Baynouna Solar Energy Company opens Jordan’s largest clean energy project
The solar park will displace 360,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, equivalent to taking nearly 80,000 cars off the road
Baynouna Solar Energy Company (BSCE) has announced the opening of its new 200MW solar park in Amman, Jordan. According to BSCE, the Baynouna Solar Park is the largest clean energy project in Jordan and will produce over 560GW/h of energy annually, which is enough to power 160,000 homes.
BSCE is a joint venture (JV) between Abu Dhabi-based renewable energy company Masdar and Finnish investment and asset management group Taaleri.
The firm said the project was developed through a power purchase agreement between Masdar and National Electric Power Company, Jordan’s state electricity provider. It noted that the solar park will displace 360,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, equivalent to taking nearly 80,000 cars off the road.
The project was inaugurated in the presence of Bisher Al-Khasawneh, Prime Minister of Jordan, and was attended by Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, COP28 President-Designate, and Chairman of Masdar; Dr Saleh Al Kharabsheh, Jordan’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources; and Sheikh Khalifa Bin Mohammed Bin Khalid Al Nahyan, UAE Ambassador to Jordan. The ceremony was also attended by other high-level officials from the government of Jordan and senior executives from Masdar, the statement noted.
In early February 2023, ILF was awarded the consultancy contract for three solar PV projects in Saudi Arabia.
“In partnership with the Jordanian government, the Baynouna Solar Park will contribute to Jordan’s climate targets, provide access to clean energy, create jobs and ensure economic growth. Along with our other project here – the Tafila Wind Farm – Masdar is already helping Jordan to produce 29% of its electricity from renewable sources and will support its goal of increasing that to 50% by the end of the decade,” said Al Jaber.
He continued, “Ambitious, transformative partnerships like these are precisely what we need if we are to deliver on the promise of the Paris Agreement and continue to ensure that we are holding back emissions, not progress. COP28 will focus on moving from goals to implementation, with a clear focus on demonstrable action on mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage, and finance, as we aim to keep the objective of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees alive.”
Financial institutions that supported the project include the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Opec Fund for International Development (OFID), the KfW Group’s DEG, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Al Kharabsheh remarked, “We are focused on developing local energy sources to achieve energy security, enhance self-reliance and limit the effects of climate change. If we look at the world today, we see that renewable energy, especially solar and wind energy, are the fastest growing and widespread renewable energy sources and the time has come to maximise the benefits of renewables.”
In early February 2023, Masdar opened an office in Baku in support of Azerbaijan’s renewable energy sector.
Al Ramahi expressed delight at witnessing the inauguration of this project, which is billed as one of the fruits of Masdar’s long collaborative partnership with Jordan. He commented, “We stand ready to support Jordan in its energy transition and will look to increase our presence in the Kingdom through the development of further clean energy projects that will drive economic growth for the nation.”
Taaleri Group CEO Peter Ramsay remarked, “We are very excited to be inaugurating the largest solar park in Jordan. This impressive project is a testament to the strength of cooperation between Masdar and Taaleri, two pioneers who have been active in the renewable energy field for a long time. We are proud to advance our common global climate change mitigation goals together with our partners and investors.”
The statement also highlighted that Masdar also operates the 117MW Tafila Wind Farm, which was completed in 2015 – and is said to be the first commercial utility-scale wind project in the Middle East.
In late February 2023, SirajPower said it would deploy its Solar Hybrid solution to a Halwan Crusher project site.
